Join the Montana Institute on Ecosystems, the National Wildlife Federation, and the Nature Conservancy in Montana for Part 2 of "Working with Beaver for Riparian Health: How University Research Supports Conservation and Management."
Part 1 of this series took place on November 18, 2020, and featured presentations from Jamie McEvoy, Ph.D. (Montana State University), Andrew Bobst (Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology), and Andrew Lahr (University of Montana). To watch a recording of the Part 1 seminar please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSqscSU4sgw
Join by phone: +1-855-797-9485 US; Toll free+1-415-655-0002 US Toll; Access code: 120 005 2957
Torrey Ritter
Wildlife Biologist
Torrey Ritter is a nongame wildlife biologist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks in Missoula, MT. He went to Montana State University for a Bachelor’s degree in Organismal Biology. He then spent the next 6 years working for various state and federal wildlife agencies on a variety of wildlife species including grizzly bears, elk, small mammals, peregrine falcons, sage grouse, and best of all, beavers. Torrey returned to MSU in 2015 for graduate school and spent 3 years studying beaver dispersal and habitat selection in the Upper Madison and Gallatin river drainages in southwest Montana. Torrey has become fascinated by beavers and their ability to modify stream and riparian habitat and is ecstatic to have the latitude to work on a wide variety of beaver-related projects in his current position.
Presentation Title: Interpreting the beaver landscape: how beaver-related research informs restoration strategies
Dr. Rebekah Levine is a geomorphologist and an associate professor in the Environmental Sciences Department at the University of Montana Western (UMW) where students in her classes are involved in field-based projects that focus on the role that water plays in shaping landscapes and ecosystems.
Rebekah received an undergraduate degree in Geosciences and American Studies at Williams College, an M.S. in Science Education at Montana State University and her PhD at the University of New Mexico in Earth and Planetary Sciences, studying the interactions between beavers and streams in southwest Montana from the mid-Holocene to the present.
Rebekah continues to focus on snow, water and geomorphology through funded research in partnership with local, state and federal agencies. Working with UMW students in immersive field-based courses, she provides water data, surficial maps and land assessments to serve local communities in planning and management. Rebekah, her wildlife-biologist husband, twin son and daughter, and yellow lab make their home in the headwaters of the Upper Missouri River and are explorers of the surrounding wild landscapes.
Presentation Title: Looking beyond the dam at beavers messing about in rivers
